Justine's Web Journal: Lake Superior

BARRY AT SPRAY FALLS, PICTURED ROCKS

SARAH AT DEVILS ISLAND, APOSTLES

DAMON AT DEVILS ISLAND, APOSTLES

I've just got home to Wales after a fun week on Lake Superior. Barry and I were guests at the Grand Marais symposium, organised by Riverside Kayak Connection, which was a lot of fun. We spent a day before the event kayaking alongside the amazing Pictured Rocks - steep sandstone cliffs with a few fun caves to paddle into, through and under, with amazing multi-coloured stripes on the rocks where the different minerals have leached through. We paddled about 10 miles along the cliffs and then back. At the furthest point was Spray Falls, an amazing waterfall which cascaded off a sheer 40foot overhang, which we paddled under to get a powershower. Thanks to Sarah & Damon Smith and Danny Mungo for taking us, and to Kelly Blades for lending us some kayaks.

ME AND BARRY AT THE APOSTLES

DEVILS ISLAND CLIFFS

BARRY IN THE CAVERNS AT DEVIL'S ISLAND

We met lots of fun people at the symposium and gave a talk about our New Zealand trip on the Sat night. Then Tiffany and Pat from Riverside Kayak Connection drove us west to Lake Superiors Apostle islands for a couple of days paddling which we really enjoyed. Lake Superior is an amazing feature - it's easy to forget you aren't on the sea as its the worlds largest lake and it seems to go on forever - you certainly can't see any land on the horizon. It was a nice change to paddle in freshwater without salt getting everywhere! The Apostle islands are a group of 21 sandstone islands in Wisconsin which is a great paddling destination with many options depending on the weather and time period. We headed out to Sand island and Devils island because they have fantastic sandstone caves, arches and caverns. There are loads of tiny little gaps that we could just squeeze through, and tunnels that we had to lean right back to travel through. We were grateful for a calm day so we could get in close. We camped overnight on Bear Island with Sarah, Damon and John before heading back via a couple of shipwrecks to Gail Green's Living Adventures near Bayfield on the mainland. Gail and her husband Grant run seakayaking tours of the Apostle islands from here. It's an impressive operation and thanks to them for putting us up for a night.

So now it's back home and straight into editing 'This is the Sea 4'. Well, OK, maybe I need to get a bit of sleep first but tomorrow I'll be working hard to get the DVD finished by mid October. I'll be updating the website soon with details of what you can look forward to seeing - and also writing a blog or two about the DVD in the next couple of weeks.